This week I passed up two opportunities to strengthen friendships. I must not become so busy I forget to love others. Those opportunities will never come again in the same way. I told myself I’ll find other chances to visit with my friends, but, when I stop to think about it, I have no certainty of that.
Life is but a vapor. Why do I forget to remember that in the daily grind of life? None of us ever has more than right now. Any grand feats (or even ignoble ones) lie buried in memory. Hopes for the future may fizzle and die. If I fail to capture each moment as it happens, I don’t really live at all.
Financial advisors understand “opportunity cost.” It’s a simple concept. For example, when you spend money on a vacation you forfeit the interest that money could have earned if you had invested it instead. That unearned interest is the opportunity cost of the vacation.
It’s not necessarily wrong to spend money on a vacation – money in the bank isn’t everything, after all – but such a choice should be made with care. Money in the bank isn’t nothing either.
The way I focus my time has its opportunity costs, too. I need to work to accomplish goals but if all I do is strive to produce I’ll become a dry well. This week I forgot to weigh my choices. Next week I’ll do better.
Maybe.